See

discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/7276186

A quantitative starch-iodine method for

measuring alpha-amylase and glucoamylase
activities

ARTICLE in ANALYTICAL BIOCHEMISTRY · MAY 2006

Impact Factor: 2.22 · DOI: 10.1016/j.ab.2006.01.036 · Source: PubMed

CITATIONS DOWNLOADS VIEWS

64 29,300 1,912

3 AUTHORS, INCLUDING:

Reginald Storms
Concordia University Montreal
67 PUBLICATIONS 3,702 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

Available from: Reginald Storms

Retrieved on: 08 August 2015
 A quantitative starch–iodine method for measuring alpha-amylase
and glucoamylase activities
Zhizhuang Xiao ¤,1, Reginald Storms, Adrian Tsang
Centre for Structural and Functional Genomics, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal H4B 1R6, Quebec, Canada
Alpha-amylase (EC 3.2.1.1), which cleaves internal -1,4-
glycosidic linkages in starch to produce glucose, maltose, or
dextrins, and glucoamylase (EC 3.2.1.3), which cuts -1,4-
and -1,6-glycosidic linkages to release glucose from the
nonreducing ends of starch, are widely used in the indus-
trial conversion of starch into sugars. The characterization
of -amylases and glucoamylases generally needs to use
diVerent chromatography techniques such as paper chro-
matography [1,2], high-performance liquid chromatogra-
phy [3,4], and thin-layer chromatography [5,6]. There are
mainly two types of assays that are used to determine the
activity of -amylase and glucoamylase. One is based on
measuring the amount of reducing sugars by the dinitrosal-
icylic acid (DNS)2 assay [2,4,5,7–10] or the Nelson–Somo-
gyi [1,11,12] method, whereas the other is based on the
decreased staining value of blue starch–iodine complexes
[13]. The second method, which was developed by Fuwa
[13] and is widely used [10–12,14–16], is based on color
development that results from iodine binding to starch
polymers. However, the starch–iodine assays reported by
diVerent researchers are quite diverse with iodine concen-
trations ranging from 3 M [12] to 0.25 mM [15] and with
the wavelength used to measure color development varying
from 550 nm [15] to 700 nm [13]. Moreover, -amylase
activity is calculated as relative activity according to the
following equation. Dextrinizing activity D (D0-D) ¥
D0 £ 100 ¥ 10, where D is the absorbance of the enzyme
sample and D0 is the absorbance of the amylose control
without the addition of enzyme [13]. Dextrinizing activity
*
Corresponding author. Fax: +1 514 496 6265.
E-mail address: zhizhuang.xiao@cnrc-nrc.gc.ca (Z. Xiao).
1
Present address: Biotechnology Research Institute, National Research
Council Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montreal, Quebec H4P 2R2,
Canada.
2
Abbreviations used: DNS, dinitrosalicylic acid.
calculated using this formula is therefore not expressed in
units that are related to the amount of substrate consumed.
In addition, since the assay has a Wnal volume of 20–200 ml,
it is not suitable for screening a large number of samples. In
this paper, we describe a microplate-based starch–iodine
assay that measures the amount of starch degraded to
determine the activity of -amylase and glucoamylase. We
also propose a new strategy to distinguish between -amy-
lase and glucoamylase enzymes by comparing the results
obtained from the DNS and starch–iodine assays.
In the Fuwa method [13], 2.5 ml of buVered -amylase is
mixed with 2.5 ml amylose (2 g/L) and incubated at 37 °C
for 30 min. The reaction is then terminated by adding 5 ml
of 1 N acetic acid. Following reaction termination, the mix-
ture is then transferred into a 250-ml Xask and diluted to
nearly 200 ml with H2O, followed by the addition of 5 ml of
iodine reagent (0.2% iodine and 2% potassium iodide).
Finally, the volume is adjusted to 200 ml with H2O and the
amount of color development is determined by measuring
the absorbance at 700 nm.
During the development of our microplate-based
starch–iodine assay, we made the following four observa-
tions. (i) the wavelength of maximum absorbance for the
starch–iodine complexes is 580 nm (Fig. 1A); (ii) concentra-
tions of at least 2.5 mM iodine are required for complete
color development when the starch concentration is 2.0 g/L;
(iii) the presence of maltose, which is one of the main end
products produced when starch is hydrolyzed by -amy-
lase, does not change the spectral properties of the iodine
reagent nor those of the starch–iodine complexes (Fig. 1A);
and (iv) greater than 95% of the enzyme activity is detected
with the starch–iodine amylase assay even in the presence
of 250 mM maltose (Table 1).
Our microplate-based starch–iodine assay was carried
out as follows. Assay reactions were initiated by adding
40 l of starch (Sigma S-2630) solution (2.0 g/L) and 40 l of
 A 2.5 tion with using a temperature block equipped with a hot lid
Blank
Maltose [17]. After 30 min of incubation at 50 °C, where the assayed
2
Maltose+Starch 2g/l
Starch 2g/l enzymes were most active, 20 l of 1 M HCl was added to
Starch 1g/l
stop the enzymatic reaction, followed by the addition of
Absorbance

1.5 100 l of iodine reagent (5 mM I2 and 5 mM KI). Following

color development, 150 l of the iodine-treated sample was
1
transferred to a transparent Xat-bottomed 96-well micro-
plate and the absorbance at 580 nm (A580) was measured
0.5
using microplate reader (Bio-TEK Instruments, Winooski,
0 VT, USA). Fig. 1B shows that the microplate format assay
400 450 500 550 600 650 700 accurately measured the amount of starch in 40-l samples
containing 10–80 g of starch.
Wavelength (nm)
We also compared the microplate format starch–iodine
B 2.5 assay and the DNS reducing sugar assay [9,17] using sets of
y = 0.0273x enzyme samples prepared with an Aspergillus oryzae -amy-
Absorbance at 580 nm

R2 = 0.9998 lase (Sigma A-6211) and an Aspergillus niger glucoamylase

2
(Sigma A-1602), respectively. The results presented in Table 1
demonstrate that both assays were highly reproducible. Fur-
1.5
thermore, both methods generated equivalent values for the
number of enzyme units present in the set of glucoamylase
1
samples. In other words, the amount of starch consumed in
mg/min as measured by the iodine method was equal to the
0.5
amount of glucose produced in mg/min as measured by the
DNS assay. In contrast, the amount of -amylase activity in
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
the samples, as determined with the two assays, was very
diVerent. The units of -amylase activity in samples measured
Starch (microgram per assay)
with the iodine assay (mg of starch equivalents consumed/
Fig. 1. Absorbance of the starch–iodine complexes. (A) Absorbance spec- min) was Wve times higher than the units of activity (mg of
tra of the starch–iodine complexes; (B) standard curve for the microplate- glucose equivalents produced/min) measured with the DNS
based starch–iodine assay.
method (Table 1). Apparently, equivalent units of glucoamy-
enzyme in 0.1 M phosphate buVer at pH 7.0 to microplate lase but not alpha-amylase activity were obtained using the
wells. To minimize evaporative loss during incubation, a iodine and DNS assays for the following reasons. Glucoamy-
plastic mat was used to cover the microplate in combina- lases degrade starch by removing glucose units from the non-

Table 1
Activity of -amylase and glucoamylase as determined with the microplate-based starch–iodine assay and the DNS assay
Sample Alpha-amylase from Aspergillus oryzae (U/ml) Glucoamylase from Aspergillus niger (U/ml)c
DNS assaya Iodine assayb Iodine assayb2 DNS assay Iodine assay
1 1.02 4.85 4.67 205 197
2 1.05 4.96 4.68 214 202
3 1.07 4.82 4.77 208 203
4 1.05 4.94 203 200
5 1.04 4.88 199 201
6 1.03 4.88 201 203
7 1.04 5.02 206 204
8 1.05 4.97 206 205
Averaged 1.04 §0.02 4.92 § 0.07 4.71 § 0.06 205 § 5 202 § 3
All data are averages of triplicate determinations.
a
One unit (U) of activity as determined by the DNS assay is deWned as an average of 1 mg of glucose equivalents released per min in the assay reaction.
b
One unit (U) for the microplate-based starch–iodine assay is deWned as the disappearance of an average of 1 mg of iodine binding starch material per
min in the assay reaction. U/ml was calculated using the formula: U/ml D (A580 control ¡A580 sample) ¥ A580/mg starch ¥ 30 min ¥ 0.04 ml, where A580
control is the absorbance obtained from the starch without the addition of enzyme, A580 sample is the absorbance for the starch digested with enzyme,
A580/mg starch is the absorbance for 1 mg of starch as derived from the standard curve in Fig. 1B, 30 min is the assay incubation time, and 0.04 ml is the
volume of the enzyme used in the assay.
b2
Enzyme assays were performed in the presence of 250 mM maltose.
c
The calculated t value for glucoamylase is 1.61, below the critical t value of 2.14 at p D 0.05, df D 14, when we compare the activity determined by the
DNS assay with that by the starch–iodine assay.
d
The calculated F values of the microplate-based starch–iodine assay to the DNS assay for both enzymes are below the critical F value of 3.79 at 95%
conWdence level with df D 7, 7.
reducing ends, thereby reducing the mass of starch available
for iodine binding and producing an equivalent mass of glu-
cose. In contrast, endo-acting -amylases reduce the concen-
tration of starch polymers that are able to bind iodine (mg
consumed/min) much more quickly than they produce reduc-
ing sugar ends (due to the production of sugar oligomers that
are too short to eYciently bind iodine). Comparing the results
obtained with the iodine-binding assay and the DNS assay
can therefore provide a simple alternative to the various chro-
matography techniques currently used to distinguish between
-amylase and glucoamylases.
In summary, we have developed an accurate microplate-
based starch–iodine assay for quantifying starch–iodine
complexes. Furthermore, this assay can serve as a platform
to screen large populations of amylase mutants—for exam-
ple, mutants generated by directed evolution—to identify
variants with improved characteristics for industry-speciWc
applications. Additionally, we describe a simple method that
distinguishes between the starch-degrading enzymes that act
through the endo-hydrolysis of 1,4--D-glucosidic linkages
(-amylases) and the enzymes that release successive -D-glu-
cose residues from nonreducing ends (glucoamylases). With
this method, units of activity obtained by performing the
starch–iodine assay developed here are compared with the
units of activity obtained with the DNS reducing sugar assay.
Equivalent units of activity are obtained with glucoamylases,
whereas with -amylases the units of activity obtained with
the starch–iodine assay are much greater.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by a Strategic Projects Grant
from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research
Council of Canada and by funding from Génome Québec
and Genome Canada.
References
[1] M.F. NajaW, A. Kembhavi, One step puriWcation characterization of
an extracellular -amylase from marine Vibrio sp., Enzyme Microb.
Technol. 36 (2005) 535–539.
[2] T.L.M. Stamford, N.P. Stamford, L.C.B.B. Coelho, J.M. Araújo, Pro-
duction and characterization of a thermostable glucoamylase from
Streptosporangium sp. endophyte of maize leaves, Bioresource Tech-
nol. 83 (2002) 105–109.
[3] M. Coronadoa, C. Vargasa, J. Hofemeisterb, A. Ventosaa, J.J. Nietoa,
Production and biochemical characterization of an -amylase from
the moderate halophile Halomonas meridiana, FEMS Microbiol. Lett.
183 (2000) 67–71.
[4] Y. Marlida, N. Saari, Z. Hassan, S. Radu, J. Bakar, PuriWcation and
characterization of sago starch-degrading glucoamylase from Acre-
monium sp. endophytic fungus, Food Chem. 71 (2000) 221–227.
[5] R. Gill, J. Kaur, A thermostable glucoamylase from a thermophilic
Bacillus sp.: characterization and thermostability, J. Ind. Microbiol.
Biotechnol. 31 (2004) 540–543.
[6] K.J. Wanderley, F. Torres, L. Moraes, C.J. Ulhoa, Biochemical char-
acterization of -amylase from the yeast Cryptococcus Xavus, FEMS
Microbiol. Lett. 231 (2004) 165–169.
[7] P. Cornelis, C. DigneVe, K. Willemot, Cloning and expression of a
Bacillus coagulans amylase gene in Escherichia coli, Mol. Gen. Genet.
186 (1982) 507–511.
[8] H.H. Hyun, G.J. Shen, J.G. Zeikus, DiVerential amylosaccharide
metabolism of Clostridium thermosulfurogenes and Clostridium ther-
mohydrosulfuricum, J. Bacteriol. 164 (1985) 1153–1161.
[9] G.L. Miller, Use of dinitrosalicylic acid reagent for determination of
reducing sugar, Anal. Chem. 31 (1959) 426–428.
[10] D.O. Mountfort, R.A. Asher, Production of -Amylase by the rumi-
nal anaerobic fungus Neocallimastix frontalis, Appl. Environ. Micro-
biol. 54 (1988) 2293–2299.
[11] D. Primarini, O. Yoshiyuki, Some enzyme properties of raw starch
digesting amylases from Streptomyces sp., Starch 52 (2000) 28–32.
[12] M. Thomas, F.G. Priest, J.R. Stark, Characterization of an extracellu-
lar -amylase from Bacillus megaterium sensu stricto, J. Gen. Micro-
biol. 118 (1980) 67–72.
[13] H. Fuwa, A new method of microdetermination of amylase activity
by the use of amylase as the substrate, J. Biochem. 41 (1954) 583–603.
[14] B.K. Gogoi, R.L. Bezbaruah, K.R. Pillai, J.N. Baruah, Production,
puriWcation and characterization of an -amylase produced by Sac-
charomycopsis Wbuligera, J. Appl. Bacteriol. 63 (1987) 373–379.
[15] C.F. González, J.I. Fariña, L.I.C. Figueroa, A critical assessment of a
viscometric assay for measuring Saccharomycopsis Wbuligera -amy-
lase activity on gelatinised cassava starch, Enzyme Microb. Technol.
30 (2002) 169–175.
[16] H.K. Manonmani, A.A.M. Kunhi, Interference of thiol-com-
pounds with dextrinizing activity assay of alpha-amylase by
starch-iodine color reaction: ModiWcation of the method to elimi-
nate this interference, World J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 15 (1999)
485–487.
[17] Z.Z. Xiao, R. Storms, A. Tsang, Microplate-based carboxymethyl-cellu-
lose assay for endoglucanase activity, Anal. Biochem. 342 (2005) 176–178.